Judge's warning for defence whistleblower

A defence whistleblower has been warned about the risks of representing himself in court by the judge overseeing his case.

David McBride is facing criminal charges in the ACT Supreme Court for leaking details of alleged war crimes to the ABC.

Justice Michael Elkaim also told McBride on Friday the jail time was potentially "unlimited" and a guilty plea would be looked on favourably.

All parties involved in the case agreed to a statement of facts with Justice Elkaim warning McBride it came "just short" of admission and could potentially "do the Crown's job".

McBride has also subpoenaed Attorney-General Christian Porter and former defence chief and now Governor-General David Hurley, requesting them to appear for the trial next year.

Speaking to AAP, McBride said he had spoken to lawyers but he felt some weren't across the issues.

He said he was also surprised by Justice Elkaim's warning he faced "unlimited" jail time but said it wasn't a factor

"I'm doing it because I think it's right, I'm doing it because I think it's good for Australia," McBride said.

He says national security legislation shouldn't be used to cover up crimes.

"I just feel like I can't not go on with it, I don't necessarily think it's going to be a happy ending."

According to the agreed facts, McBride began printing and taking defence records home from 2014, which he later supplied to journalists Chris Masters and Andrew Clark.

In 2016, defence revoked his security clearance after he wrote several blog posts using information from his work as a commonwealth officer.

Later that year, he provided defence documents to Dan Oakes which the journalist later used for an ABC series called The Afghan Files, which alleged Australian special forces had shot unarmed civilians, including children.

According to the documents, McBride was unhappy with the angle Mr Oakes had pursued, believing it wasn't consistent with the complaints he made, and the two stopped talking before the story was published.

In 2017 he travelled to Spain with no intention of returning, believing it would be difficult for Australian officials to pursue him there while he met with European journalists and considered writing a book.

But he returned in 2018 for a family event when he was arrested by police at the airport as he tried returning to Spain.

The matter returns to court in December to review how public interest disclosure laws may be used as a defence, before McBride faces a trial by jury next year.